A Professor, an Ambassador, and a Pope

Whoa! I've been busy! I'll catch you up on the last 3 days. Friday was filled with introductions. We got a tour of our school and met our professors. The school consists of a couple of buildings blocks apart, which is confusing and scary considering I have no idea where they are and tomorrow is the first day of class!

After that we met the US Ambassador for the Vatican! He also happens to be a former professor from our school! It was really exciting and I could not stop smiling. We had to have our passports checked and had to go through security one at a time before they would let us in. Miguel was an awesome speaker. He told us all about the process of being appointed by Obama and how top secret the whole situation was. Ambassador Diaz was one of the religious advisors for the Obama campaign, which led to his nomination. He was so easy-going and talked to us as if he were still at school and didn't have an official status. Later Friday night we got a tour of the 8 person guys apartment and later went to the Vatican to take pictures of it with all of it's lights.

Random Thoughts:
For those of you that heard about my luggage fiasco, I want you to know that all of my luggage got here safely with all straps and buckles in place!

Italy is hot! The first few days I spent sweaty and hot, so I would go back to my apartment to take a shower. You would think that a cold shower would feel good, but no it doesn't. I was more concerned about the hypothermia I was going to get from my shower. I have taken ice cold showers so far and thought that is how it would be for the rest of the trip, but alas our landlord came over tonight and fixed the showers!!! In a few minutes I am going to enjoy a hot shower!! I am so excited!! I told one of my roommates that that was going to be the first thing I did when I got home was take a warm shower!

Culture shock? Not so much. It might still be coming, but so far this culture has not surprised me too much. A few of the appliances are different and getting used to hanging laundry to dry has been interesting, but other than that I understand for the most part why they do the things they do.

Homesick? A little. Today was the first day that I felt a little homesickness. I am so glad that I am doing this trip and I know that I have and will learn so much from it, but it's hard to hear about missing out on stuff at home. Oh Johnnie football games how I miss you!

Ok, so Saturday. We did so much touring on Saturday! I am pretty sure between the last few days we have seen almost all of Rome. I really want to see things more than once, so I am okay with having an exhausting head start. We went to the Spanish steps and climbed to the top to tour a church. I think Evan counted and it was 149 steps to the top. A few more than the 2 that I joked about. After that we went to the Trevi Fountain with a group of 13 of us. Talk about a lot of work! We ended up splitting into two groups because it was too hard to keep track of everyone. I am so used to counting how many people I am with, it's ridiculous. There are six of us right now. See?

After the fountain we toured another church across the way. We then headed to another church called the Church of the Apostles which held the tombs of two apostles. It was raining by that point so as we wandered to find a bus stop we ran into the Colosseum. It's so weird how you can run into landmarks here without even trying. They're everywhere!

We ended the evening with wait, oh yeah more churches and touring. We saw Katelynn's group's apartment which is in a cute neighborhood, but much smaller and older than ours. We went again to the Vatican and then tried to see the Castle of St. Angelo, but it was closed. Being the brilliant person that I am (lie) I found a priest walking by to give us guidance. We thought the Castle was supposed to be open because Rome hosts a "White Night" when all museums are open to the public for free. I asked him if he knew about it, as I stereotyped him as a helpful Roman. Turns out he was also a tourist and we missed the "White Night" by one night.

We did however find a carousel by the Castle. Sometimes it's just good to be spontaneous and immature! We later found a concert and a few market stalls nearby so we stopped for a few minutes.

I thought that I had fulfilled my church viewing for the century, but I woke up this morning and headed to the Vatican to hear the Pope speak. We got there early to "get a good spot," but ended up getting in a line. We had no idea what it was for, but hey where there's a line, there's me. We went through a security line and eventually got a tour of the Basilica of St. Peter. Don't worry my shoulders were covered and I had my mantilla. Cousins, insert laugh here. I spoke to some cute Vatican security guy who didn't know much English, but was able to explain to me that the Pope would not be right outside of the Basilica to speak. We were able to watch him on the big screens in the square and took pictures. Afterwards, we again got in line to go to mass in the Basillica. The place is so big, they have several altars to hold mass. This afternoon I was extremely lazy and just napped and worked on homework. My roommate and I did hear fireworks going off for a long time and finally ran outside to find them. We caught a glimpse of the very last one. Bummer. But, maybe that's a tradition here. Now we know where to go.

If you aren't sick of me by now, I'm surprised. I'm sick of me, so I am going to go take a HOT shower!! :)